In the eyes of the global media, modern Mexico has become synonymous with crime, violence and insecurity. But while media fascination and academic engagement has focussed on the drug war, an equally dangerous phenomenon has taken root. In The Punitive City , Markus-Michael Müller argues that what has emerged in Mexico is not just a punitive urban democracy, in which those at the social and political margins face growing violence and exclusion. More alarmingly, it would seem that clientelism in the region is morphing into a private, political protection racket. Vital reading for anyone seeking to understand the implications of a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly widespread across Latin America. “[A]n outstanding contribution to critical urban security studies.” ― European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies “Provides wonderful insights into the complex practices of security in contemporary Mexico City. Building on strong foundations in theory and on-the-ground data this book blazes a new trail in understanding the multiple layers of security debates in Latin America's largest city and the region more generally.” ― Enrique Desmond Arias, author of Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro “Müller's work on urban security is deeply compelling. He makes the institutional, political and community consequences of Mexico City's punitive turn legible through exacting empirical insight. This is not just analytically productive, but also absolutely necessary for a thoughtful analysis of violence and urban life in Latin America.” ― Graham Denyer Willis, author of The Killing Consensus: Police, Organized Crime and the Regulation of Life and Death in Urban Brazil “Müller offers a wealth of original and stimulating insights, including a critical exploration of the role of the transnational NGO-Foundation-Academic nexus in vernacularizing common principles of punitive urban security governance throughout the region and beyond.” ― John Gledhill, author of The New War on the Poor: The Production of Insecurity in Latin America “Müller's conceptually sophisticated and empirically grounded critical gaze spares nobody and nothing.” ― Wil G. Pansters, Utrecht University/University of Groningen Markus-Michael Müller is an assistant professor of Latin American politics at the Freie Universität Berlin. His work has focused on transnational security governance, postcolonial state formation, and the urbanization of neoliberalism. He is the author of Public Security in the Negotiated State: Policing in Latin America and Beyond (2012). The Punitive City Privatized Policing and Protection in Neoliberal Mexico By Markus-Michael Müller Zed Books Ltd Copyright © 2016 Markus-Michael Müller All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-78360-697-9 Contents Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Introduction, 1 The making of the punitive city, 2 Neoliberal insecurities and resilient clientelism, 3 Lawfare and resistance at the new urban frontier, 4 Securitizing civic activism, 5 Self-policing, commodified protection and community justice, Conclusion, References, Index, CHAPTER 1 The making of the punitive city In June 2004, several hundred thousand Mexico City residents mobilized by civil society organizations like México Unido Contra la Delincuencia (Mexico United Against Delinquency), the country's most influential anti-crime NGOs, rallied to the streets of the nation's capital in order to protest against the inefficiency of the Mexican authorities in their efforts to confront the crime wave haunting the city, and the country in general, as well as the leniency of existing penal laws. In this regard, the protest was accompanied by widespread demands for retributive punishment and 'tough on crime' policies, including calls for indefinite prison terms and the death penalty for kidnappers and murderers ( La Jornada 2004a, 2004b). Nearly three years later, in spring 2007, car drivers and pedestrians strolling down one of Mexico City's most trafficked streets, Insurgentes Avenue, were confronted with a huge billboard on top of a multi-storey building. The billboard, placed there by a private initiative, offered a reward of 250,000 Mexican Pesos (then about US$ 23,000) for the capture of a presumed kidnapper and murderer – a capture that was called a 'community service'. A year later, Mexico's Green Ecological Party distributed leaflets among urban households in Mexico City. The leaflet contained two photo stories. One story was about María, whose daughter had been kidnapped and who was threatened by Moncho, a prisoner, to pay the full ransom, otherwise her daughter would have to suffer the consequences. María, the story tells us, despite financial support from her mother, was unable to pay the complete ransom and she never heard from her daughter again. The other story is about Juan, presented as a 'repeat offender'. He was waiting at a street corner for his next victim. When a young boy and gir